Feel free to give JJ a call or send her an email:

619-203-1989

"The End" is only the beginning.

Most writers think typing 'the end' at the completion of a mss. is the end of their work. Wrong. Rewriting brings out the story and heightens what you've meant to say all along. Rewriting brings your setting and characters to life, and adds a depth to your story that you can never hope to achieve with the first draft. Rewriting can seldom make a bad story good, but it can make a good story better and add the pizzazz that makes editors take notice.

As an editor, my job is to point out ways to strengthen your story, your characters and your mss. as a whole. Your style and the way you tell your story is your own; my goal is to help you find ways to polish and craft your work so that agents and editors will want to read it.

Every editing consultation is different. Some writers need full-on line editing. Some writers are almost ready to submit but need help with a final polish. Other writers put words together beautifully on the page but with a monotony of story so that we need to create some peaks and valleys. My job is never to change your writing style or your story - that remains your own - but rather to help shape and craft your work so that it comes alive and compels readers to turn the page.

As I study your submission, I pose certain questions:

Has the writer used character and setting to their greatest advantage?

Is the plot compelling?

Is the action realistic or are there spots where the characters' actions seem forced or contrived?

Does each turn of the story arise out of what has gone before?

Is the pace of the story on point?

Are there scenes which could be left out, or combined, to get more punch?

Is each character essential to the action?

Do some parts of the story lag while others seem to leap great chasms and leave the readers shaking their heads?

Is what the writer meant to say truly conveyed?

I give you notes on everything I find, and concrete suggestions on how to better your work.